Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is widely grown in California -- at over 15,000 acres, it’s now the third most planted variety -- and often assumes the moniker ‘Fume Blanc’. This popular synonym, credited to Napa’s Robert Mondavi, derives from the grape’s historic home of Pouilly in France’s Upper Loire Valley, where Sauvignon Blanc is the dominant varietal and goes locally by the name of ‘Blanc Fumé’. This noble grape is also successfully grown in Washington State and in New York on Long Island. In Canada, the variety is establishing a foothold in both the Niagara region of Ontario and British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.

When treated with respect and afforded suitable growing conditions, it is one of the wine world’s darlings. Dry wines made from this grape are characterized by steely, racy acidity, green, gooseberry fruit, asparagus and a grassy, herbaceous character. It is rarely oaked, except in California, where it has often been subjected to Read more »

(aka. Blanc Fume, Fume Blanc, Savagnin Musque)

Sauvignon Blanc is widely grown in California -- at over 15,000 acres, it’s now the third most planted variety -- and often assumes the moniker ‘Fume Blanc’. This popular synonym, credited to Napa’s Robert Mondavi, derives from the grape’s historic home of Pouilly in France’s Upper Loire Valley, where Sauvignon Blanc is the dominant varietal and goes locally by the name of ‘Blanc Fumé’. This noble grape is also successfully grown in Washington State and in New York on Long Island. In Canada, the variety is establishing a foothold in both the Niagara region of Ontario and British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.

When treated with respect and afforded suitable growing conditions, it is one of the wine world’s darlings. Dry wines made from this grape are characterized by steely, racy acidity, green, gooseberry fruit, asparagus and a grassy, herbaceous character. It is rarely oaked, except in California, where it has often been subjected to such extreme winemaking as new oak, extended lees contact and malolactic fermentation. Here, it produces a tropical, buttery style of Sauvignon Blanc. However, California producers are increasingly using less oak, to create more naturally expressive wines.

In France’s Pouilly Fume, the grape expresses its most subtle complexity, with the best wines grown on limestone hills with a high proportion of flint, said to give the wines a gun smoke (flinty) aroma. Elsewhere in France, namely Bordeaux’s Graves and Entre-Deux-Mers regions, Sauvignon Blanc has had a long, if uneven, history. Here, the variety co-stars with another white, the more supple Semillon, in addition to a minor supportive role played by the more perfumed Muscadelle. In Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc not only makes dry wines, it plays an important, albeit subsidiary role, in the highly-prized sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac. In these lavishly rich wines, its sharp acidity helps to balance the round and almost waxy nature of botrytis-affected Semillon.

Across the border in Italy, producers such as Jermann, Schiopetto and Livio Fellugia have made Collio and the Colli Orientali DOCs famous with their impressively expressive versions of Sauvigon Blanc.

Sauvignon Blanc has also found a home in the southern hemisphere, most notably the Marlborough region of New Zealand’s South Island where they have fashioned a modern style of this classic, profiling a more fruit driven tropical expression of the grape. Indeed, the Sauvignon Blancs of New Zealand can stun the uninitiated with their intensity, and may seem an altogether different wine than the traditional grassy or flinty versions. Typical examples have powerful aromatics with classic gooseberry fruit, and freshly-mown grass elements, complimented by rich tropical fruit salad aromas. They are matched with richly characterful palates and tart, edgy acidity. Marlborough’s advantage over competing growing regions is its long, sunny growing season, with dry autumns and cool nights. The grapes are allowed to ripen on the vine much longer here than elsewhere, enabling fruit intensity to be maximized. Meanwhile, the area’s cool nights retain the grape’s natural and balancing, razor-sharp acidity. The Kiwis can also be credited with implementing modern and effective methods of canopy management, keeping crop levels to a minimum and picking the grapes at varying times to create more complex wines.

Sauvignon Blanc is produced as a dry wine in all corners of the wine world. Even if you cross the Tasman Sea, from New Zealand to its brasher antipodal neighbor Australia, the grape is successful. Cool corners of Australia, such as the Yarra Valley in Victoria, are showing potential with Sauvignon Blanc based wines, even if they rarely produce wine with the same edge as their Kiwi counterparts. South Africa also produces reliably characterful Sauvignon-based wines, as does Chile’s cool Casablanca Valley.

You are one sexy gal, Sauvignon Blanc, trotting joyously through fields of grass, with your long, blond tresses blowing in the breeze. We envision you with leis of wild flowers and gooseberries bouncing on your bosoms; you absorb all the herbal essences around you. You are young and fresh - crisp even - with taut skin and daring spunk. You have the steely courage to bound up to us bare-naked. Yet when you do don cloths of oak you present yourself in a most exotic way. However, most would agree that you are best au naturel!
– Description from
Appellation America
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Mentor for Sauvignon Blanc Wines

Wine marketing, education professional and Chile Brand Ambassador with Vine Connections with a love of wine old and new. I am wine geek and traveler with an unquenchable desire to explore the world of wine one region and country at a time

A few months ago, I was minding my own business, mostly, when I received a ... ... ... (usually 25% or less) of Sauvignon Blanc and, occasionally, Muscadelle. Second, the sweetness of the wines comes from the grapes being affected by botrytis cinera (also known as “noble rot”), a fungus that gradually raisinates the berries by drawing out the ...
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Bonjour!Please accept my introduction today. Currently, I am Proprietor of La ... ... noir, a chardonnay and a sauvignon blanc) which would be my daily go to. Something noteworthy, yet affordable. I would appreciate any input towards that endeavor.Please may you enjoy a lovely day!Gina &nbs
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Fresh, floral and herbal citrus aromas of lemon balm and grapefruit with light melon notes. Zesty and juicy on the palate, dominated by grassy citrus fruit notes of lemon, lime and grapefruit with a finish that let's up on the acidity replacing with creamy almond and green apple notes.90 pts
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Very herbal nose. Not so much on the tongue. On the tongue there is the grapefruit sensation that seems to be endemic with most SBs, but, thankfully there are other flavor sensations that add to the experience: definitely, some tropical fruitpineappleand, also, some slate. Nice acid provides refreshing crispness.
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I am a beginner with wine...how should an unfinished bottle be stored..

Comment
by
1280156McCants1280156

May 31, 2012

Les South

Comment
by
417415les south417415

May 31, 2012

Tell Chateau in France that I will write to Then Real soon ,and my Two Sister Ruby's of Baron Maurice & Baroness Noemie De'Rothschild are Still The Best Best on Planet .This Blanc Nice To Drink.

Comment
by
417415les south417415

May 31, 2012

Tell Chateau in France that I will write to Then Real soon ,and my Two Sister Ruby's of Baron Maurice & Baroness Noemie De'Rothschild are Still The Best Best on Planet .This Blanc Nice To Drink.

Comment
by
417415les south417415

May 16, 2011

After tasting the following Sauvignon Blanc varietals from the Marlborough regions of New Zealand "Brancott and Matua", I won't even buy any Sauvignon Blanc varietals from any where else in the world.

Comment
by
475141PJMwine475141

May 10, 2011

My love fo Sauv. Blanc is a relatively new one. I discovered the wonders of this strain while representing New Zealand's Villa Maria winery at Israel's largest wine exhibit - "Sommelier", which took place in November '10. I tried both the Blancs from the Private Bin and the Cellar Selection series. The aromas sent me dreaming. I had visions of t...

Comment
by
827915Malka Lev Adom827915

Jul 27, 2010

frankly, i'm not pro in tasting wine, but somehow i do like this "Mancura" brand.... no doubt price are acceptable... and it was smooth for me..... any comment? do share... :)

Comment
by
539836Adriane31539836

May 10, 2010

Tasted Kemblefield Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand this weekend. Oh my- it was a bunch of bold fruit just bursting all over. Only $9.99 a bottle. Guess I will be going back for a case. MMmMMmMMM!